Ban Microbeads in South Africa

South Africa has the opportunity to make a statement about unnecessary pollution in our water ways and oceans.

We call for the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Health to BAN the use of plastic microbeads in commercial products! This has been done in other countries (e.g. Canada, USA, New Zealand) and should be done in here in South Africa too.

Microbeads are small (usually <1mm) pieces of plastic that are used in cosmetics, skin care and other household items, such as cleaners instead of traditional, natural exfoliates. Because the plastic microbeads are small, they are not filtered out of the waste water and end up in the environment where they are eaten by zooplankton, shellfish, fish and, in turn, humans.

Plastic in the ocean attracts and binds toxic chemicals such as persistent organic pollutants and other hydrophobic pollutants, and can therefore be many times more toxic than the surrounding water.

This is a completely unnecessary source of plastic pollution. There are natural alternatives. Many companies have already made the decision and commitment to switch to more environmentally-friendly and sustainable alternatives.

We urge our government to work with industry and retailers to ban plastic microbeads in South Africa.

This is an easy problem to solve. Please sign the petition to ban the microbead in South Africa.